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Not just fast, but cool too. That is how sportswear manufacturers describe their latest suits designed to help Olympic competitors fight the heat in Athens.

Expect to hear a lot this month about built-in evaporation systems, personal air conditioning and strategically-placed ventilation as the world's leading brands explain how their latest technologies give athletes that crucial edge.

"The main challenge for Olympic athletes will be keeping cool and in Athens' heat the body's main mechanism is sweat evaporation," said Dr George Havenith, a U.K. research from Loughborough University, who advised one manufacturer on its range of cooling clothing.

"The closer to your skin sweat evaporates, the bigger the advantage. And that's where the right clothing can help," Havenith said.

The clothing range is made from four fabrics designed for different parts of the body depending on how much sweat or heat is produced there, said James Lamont, head of the company's innovation team.

"A lot of sweat is produced in the chest area, so we use a three-dimensional fabric there to aid evaporation by letting air flow near the skin," Lamont said.

The suit also includes conductive cooling tape behind the neck where heat is given off, and a panel of fabric sewn in to act as a "chimney" channelling air down the back, one of the body's sweatiest areas.

Hey, what a cool jacket

Scientists have found other ways to help athletes cope before and after their events.

One company is providing pre-cool jackets, vests filled with 12 cooled gel packs that can be worn for an hour before competing, and uniforms with ventilation panels.

"If you apply pre-cooling your body temperature will be lower to start with but rise at the same rate," Havenith said.

"The big debate is how that cooling would affect muscle performance. There's some research which shows that muscle can perform quite well at lower temperatures, so the pre-cooling doesn't seem to have a negative effect."

The U.K., the U.S. and China also have the use of a product normally used to help workers cool quickly when their body temperature gets dangerously high.

"It looks like a coffee pot with a beer can in it, which you grip," said the manufacturer's chief executive Ron Piasecki.

"We get as much blood into the hand as possible by creating a slight vacuum, and then hit it with the lowest temperature we can without causing vascular constriction, about 22°C."

This technique can pull an athlete's core temperature down in just a few minutes, and can be used to help athletes to refresh between competitions in events such as the decathlon, as well as to develop heat tolerance during training.

"It's the third best way of cooling the body, after full immersion in ice water and injecting a cool saline solution," Piasecki said.

The Dutch rowing team is placing its trust in a new kit that disperses body heat by allowing sweat to evaporate more efficiently, and also reflects the sun's rays.

The uniform will cover more of the rower's body than normal suits and the developers say it can improve performance by up to 3%.

Traditional methods may be best

But away from the marketing hoopla some say traditional methods are the best way to beat the heat.

"If a scientist comes up with something and says 'these things will keep you cool,' you want to believe it. We can prove that the clothes will have a tiny positive effect, but it's not the product, it's the idea."

Some athletes will combat temperatures of 40°C plus by dunking their hands in iced water just before competing.

Many teams have tried to reduce the shock of the Athens heat by training in similar conditions at home.

Canadian athletes have swallowed pills containing a tiny thermometer and transmitter to check their core temperatures.

Australia's women's hockey team has lifted weights in a heat chamber over the past month while the U.K. equestrian team has worn thick jackets and wrapped its horses in blankets during training to get used to the expected conditions.

"It is not overstating the case to say that [in Athens] it is potentially fatal to exercise as hard as you need to win an event," Australian team doctor Peter Fricker said.

Everyone agrees, however, that athletes have no excuses not to be ready for high temperatures.

"The best advice is the old-fashioned: drink fluids and stay in the shade. It's not much more complicated than that," Reid said.